Garment-supporter.



J. W. SCHLOSS.

GABMBNT SUPPORTER.

APPLIUATIDH FILED JULY 17. 1909.

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH W. SCHLOSS, OE NEW YORK, N. Y., AssIGNOR To JOSEPHW. SCHLOSS &Co., 0E NEW YORK, N. Y., A FIRM.

GARMENT-SUPPORTER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, .Iosnrn WV. SCHLOSS, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of New York, in the borough of Manhattan and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGarment-Supporters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to garment stitl'eners.

Lace and other soft fabrics which are used for ladies collars and otherapparel do not have enough inherent stiffness to serve their requiredpurposes, and it is cus'- tomary to employ resilient ribs, blades, orstrips, secured to the fabric and serving to provide the .stiffeningqualities which are required. Such ribs, or strips are, however,inconvenient in washing the fabric, especially if made of cardboard orthe like, and attempts have been made to have the stifl'ening stripsremovable from the fabric by a simple manipulation whenever desired, butwithout sacrificing the qualities of rm and complete engagement with thefabric in normal use, and inconspicuousness and attractiveness ofappearance. So far as I am aware, these results have never beenperfectly attained, and it is the purpose of my invention to provide animproved form of stiffener which is adapted to secure the said purposes.

l/Vith this Object in view my invention consists in the features ofconstruction and combination as hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side view of an incomplete stiffenercovering showing the manner Of manufacture. Fig. i). is a front view ofthe stiffener partly completed. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing thecore. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the completed stiffener with thecore in place, and F iff. 5 is a front view of the same.

Eeferring to the drawings in which like parts are designated by the samereference sign, 1 denotes the core and 2 the cover of the preferred formof my garment stiHener. The core 1 may be made of stiff cardboard,celluloid, metal, or any resilient strip material having sufficientfirmness to exert its proper functions in use, and having Sullicientelasticity or flexibility to permit its bending into a loop as shown indotted lines of Fig. 3. I make the cover 2 of woven or braided fabricmanufactured in a loom or Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 17, 1909.

Patented Sept. .1.3, 1910.

Serial No. 508,104.

braiding machine in a continuous tubular indefinite length, and having alongitudinally extending slit 3, repeated at spaced intervals alongsuoli length. This slit is conveniently made by adjustments of the loomor braiding machine which will be understood by those skilled in theart, producing the complete tubular woven or braided covering fabric inone continuous length, with the equally spaced apart slits 3, the latterbeing of equal length and having uniform selvage edges. It 1s thenmerely necessary to cut up the fabric covering between the slittedportions thereof, into sections 5 of equal length adapted to constituteindividual covers for the stiffeners.

The length of each section 5 is slightly greater than the length of thecore 1. Each section has its ends folded over and pasted or otherwisefastened down so that the resultant interior cavity has a longitudinal'dimension snugly corresponding to that of the core 1. The slit 3 issymmetrically located between the ends of the stiffener under thesecircumstances, and is made of sufficient longitudinal extent to permitthe insertion of the core l, after the lat-ter has been doubled orlooped upon itself in the manner shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. As thecore resumes its rectilinear shape it expands into the ends of thecover, rounding such ends outward in an ornamental manner as is desired.This rounding of the ends is mainly due to the nature of the braidedfabric which I prefer to employ, and which has a strong contractiletendency causing i to draw together at the ends where it is not expandedby the core. The folding over of the protruded ends gives the roundedoutline shown in Fig. 5 when the core is in place. This is not onlyornamental, but is a distinct advantage from the standpoint of utility,because the rounded ends present no sharp corners which might scratchthe neck or person of the wearer. In this condition the stiffcner issewed to the collar or other fabric to be stiffcned, the stitches, ofcourse, not penetrating the hard central core. The tension of the fabriccover on the core is not only adapted to round out the ends of the coveras above described, but also stretches the walls of the slit 3, therebypulling them together so that the slit is entirely closed andpractically invisible. The slit is disposed in the cover so that thecore when in position will afford a flat face adjacent the slit, whichis advantageous for several rcasons. It is evident that the action ofthe core upon the fabric places the latter under tension, and, hence, asaforesaid, the material forming the walls of the slit is rendered taut,the walls of the slit closing neatly together as a result. It is forthis reason especially that woven fabric is preferred to other material.The lips or walls of the slit close very closely by reason of theadjacent face of the core having a flat surface, and further when it isdesired to remove the core, bowing it forces the said lips apart so thatthe fingers may readily engage with the core. A furtheradvantage'resides in the fact that the edges of the assembled stiffenerare adapted to be sewed through at any point along their length withoutinterfering with the ready removal of the core when desired. The closingof the slit 3 in this way evidently effects the entire concealment ofthe core at the same time, so that the latter is never visible under anycircumstances when within the cover. The appearance of the completedstiffener is ornamental and attractive, presenting only the smoothregular outline of the cover, practically the same as if the core werepermanentlv incased. Not only this, but the wearer is never subjected tothe discomfort of contact with the hard core at any point since there isno point where the core is exposed to permit such contact.

When the stiffener is doubled or looped upon itself for the purpose ofremoving the core, the above tension is removed and the side edges ofthe slit are easily separated sufficiently to permit the withdrawal ofthe core.

What I claim, is

A garment stiffener comprising an elongated and normally flat fabriccover having closed ends, said cover having a narrow slit in one 0f theflat faces thereof and substantially on its longitudinal median line; afiat bowable and resilient core disposable into and removable from saidflat cover while the fiat face of the core is faced toward a flat sideof the cover, the slit being positioned directly over a flat face of thecore when the parts are assembled and said core being of somewhatgreater length than the normal length of the cover; the strands of thecover fabric being placed under tension by the insertion of the core andthereby normally maintaining the lips of the slitk closed before thesaid face.

In witness whereof, I subscribe my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

JOSEPH WV. SCHLOSS. Vtnesses:

lVALDo M. CHAPIN, JAMEs DE ANTONIO.

